Enhancing Education with Optical Aurora Detectors

The Aurora Borealis (�Northern Lights�) can be seen in Montana, but with
lower probability than a high-latitude location such as Alaska. The purpose
of this project is to create optical sensors that can detect the presence of
an aurora in the sky and alert interested people via cell phone messages so
they can go outside and look. The sensors will also provide data that will
be useful for determining how often auroras are actually observable in a
given location (as opposed to how often they might be visible if the sky was
clear, etc.)

A prototype of the first optical aurora detector was
tested in Fairbanks, Alaska during March 2007 and is currently operating at
the Montana State University (MSU) campus in Bozeman, Montana. Students
currently are developing improved versions of this instrument, which will be
tested in Alaska during early 2009 in a collaborative effort between MSU and
the University of Alaska � Fairbanks.